<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Anniversary by Liz_87</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24571507">Anniversary</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liz_87/pseuds/Liz_87'>Liz_87</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Casualty (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:02:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>993</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24571507</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liz_87/pseuds/Liz_87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie always celebrates the anniversary of the day he first met Duffy. Series 31.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lisa "Duffy" Duffin/Charlie Fairhead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Anniversary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Duffy yawned and ran her hand through her hair as she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to enter the kitchen. The light was on and Charlie sat at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand. She squinted at the clock on the wall.</p><p>"What are you doing up?" She asked him sleepily. </p><p>"Having a cup of coffee."</p><p>She rolled her eyes. "I can see that. But why? It's 7am on your day off..."</p><p>"6.56am actually." He corrected, gesturing to his watch.</p><p>She shot him a look. "Regardless of the time, why are you up so early? We were pretty late to bed last night."</p><p>Charlie smirked at the memory. "Because it's March 27th." He explained.</p><p>"And..?"</p><p>"I always have a cup of coffee at 6.56am on March 27th." He stated simply, as though it was totally obvious. "Would you like one too?" He offered.</p><p>She studied his features, hoping for some clue but getting nothing. "Sure. I have the feeling I'm going to need one at this rate!"</p><p>Charlie smiled and stood up to make Duffy a cup of coffee. Walking back over to the table he handed the mug to her. "Try not to throw it all over me this time though!" He chuckled.</p><p>She was about to take a sip but stopped. "That was an accident!" She shot back reflexively.</p><p>A comfortable silence fell over them as they drank their coffees. Before long Duffy's curiosity got the better of her.</p><p>"What made you think about that anyway?"</p><p>"It was 6.56am on March 27th 1986 and I was savouring the quiet before my shift started..."</p><p>"Having a crafty fag more like!" Duffy cut in.</p><p>His face confirmed that he'd been caught out. "Anyway... I was minding my own business when suddenly I get showered in lukewarm coffee by a redheaded blur dressed in blue."</p><p>She blushed as she remembered that morning. She'd overslept and as a result was running to try to make it to the department on time for her first shift there. The embarrassment she'd felt at the time had further increased a short while later when she'd been introduced the department's charge nurse. She could still see the smirk on Charlie's face as he'd looked at her. It had been almost a month before he'd stopped purposely giving her a wide berth whenever he saw her with a coffee in her hands! She looked up as she heard Charlie chuckle.</p><p>"What?" She asked, slightly puzzled.</p><p>"You've gone exactly the same shade of red as you did that day." He explained.</p><p>Shooting him a mock glare, Duffy stood up and walked over to the counter to make some toast. As she was buttering a slice a thought occurred to her.</p><p>"You remember the exact date and time..."</p><p>He moved to stand behind her, one hand resting on her hip as he brushed her hair behind her ear with the other. "Of course I do. It was the moment you came crashing into my life. Literally! And you never left it again, even when you tried to run away to the other side of the world!"</p><p>"Ah yes the invisible string analogy you got from that hooker..."</p><p>"She was a lap dancer!"</p><p>"Coz that makes it so much better Charlie..!"</p><p>"Are you planning to let that drop any time soon?"</p><p>"Says the man who still brings up the fact I spilt coffee on him 31 years ago..!" She shot back, tilting her head to the side.</p><p>"It was supposed to be a cute story." He whined petulantly.</p><p>"The hooker or the coffee?" She questioned.</p><p>"Lap dancer." He corrected, earning a glare in response.</p><p>Charlie seized his chance as Duffy turned back towards the toast. He lent closer and whispered in her ear. "Don't I at least get some brownie points for remembering the exact moment we first met?" He asked before moving to kiss what he knew to be her weak spot at the base of her neck.</p><p>"Mmm, maybe..." She mumbled distractedly as she felt Charlie's hand move from her hip to grasp her bottom. A thought filtered through the haze. "Hang on, you said you have a cup of coffee at this time every year..?" She turned to look at him, her face a mixture of shock and curiosity.</p><p>Now it was Charlie's turn to blush. "Um... Yeh..." He mumbled nervously before finding the courage to confess fully. "Its important to me. The first couple of years it was almost accidental, the time of day coinciding with the end of the nightshift. But regardless of what was happening in our lives in the subsequent years, whether we were due to spend the entire day together or we were thousands of miles apart, it just became a part of my routine on that particular day. It didn't even matter if you were in an utterly foul mood with me at the time, when March 27th came around I'd still make myself a cup of coffee at 6.56am." He paused. "On those occasions I'd usually spend those minutes trying to figure out how to stop you being mad with me. Not always successfully I should add!" He admitted ruefully. </p><p>"I had no idea." She whispered, astonished. The room was thick with emotion. Slowly a cheeky smile began to form on Duffy's face. She ran her fingertips along Charlie's cheek. "How about we finish our coffees and then we can add a new part to your anniversary routine..? One where we celebrate together!" She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before slipping from his embrace to grab her mug from the table. She quickly drained the last of her coffee before sauntering from the room and heading back upstairs.</p><p>Charlie's gaze followed his wife's movements. He chuckled as he quickly finished his drink and began to follow her up the stairs. Celebrating together certainly sounded like a much better idea!</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>